We’re on the home straight!

As we enter the final week Big Brother starts to look more and more like a strangely entertaining car crash. Was the reintroduction of the housemates a cynical grab to rescue ailing ratings or was it a genuine part of the Big Brother plan from the outset. Ah, who cares. Its done now, lets live with the consequences.

First off the eviction was a no brainer with Imogen finally taking the walk after spending her last few days in the house next door with Richard and the reintroduced quartet of Nikki, Grace, Mikey and Leah.

She seemed genuinely glad to go and although I profess to disliking her wallpaper camouflage technique that sneaked her under the radar up to this point she did give a great interview. Very open and sparky with an approach that could have made her perhaps more likable and definitely more interesting if she had used it in the house. The cynic in me suspects she was making the best of her “career defining” interview with Davina (can she truly hold out another week without giving birth?). Aisleyn’s reaction to Imogen’s departure was of course to wail like a harpy with another bout of Oscar tears and dramatics. That ain’t going to look good back in “her yard” when she gets back to reality.

Richard was promptly shunted back to the main house with instructions for the housemates. The time had come for them to choose the ex housemate they wanted to return and as we all suspected it was a two horse race. Right down to the wire between Lea and Nikki, of course the public wanted to see the burgeoning “romance” between Pete and Nikki and even though some of the housemates wanted to see Lea return they all conceded to Nikki in a bid to keep Pete happy. Strangely enough when it came to the chance to see “his one true love” again, he seemed strangely non-committal about making the choice to get her back.

It’s worth backtracking a little at this point and seeing what else has been going on during the week. The reintroduction of ex housemates gave Glyn a touch of the vapours and he took to the roof in a manner that would have given Spider Man just cause for applause. He scaled the wall and tried to break into the secret house and consequently broke Big Brother’s rules with regards to health and safety.

Big Brother warned him that this would have serious consequences for him in the future as his climbing efforts had endangered life and limb. By Friday he discovered his “punishment” was exclusion from the vote to bring someone back into the house. No biggie, I don’t think his vote would have carried any weight anyway such was the Nikki mania that Richard had manage to whip up in the house.

Elsewhere it was Grace’s 21st birthday and her gift was to spend 21 minutes in the main house to celebrate her coming of age. As you would expect from most quarters the reaction to her arrival was frosty to say the least. Aisleyn’s efforts to defend Susie were unimpressive and her threats to “dash that girl with water” didn’t happen. Glyn however was all over her like a rapidly spreading rash in another bout of behaviour that could at best be described as manic.

Back to the present though and a little more about “that romance”.

Now you can call me cynical if you want but…do you honestly believe all that malarkey?

Nikki might have got back into the house but I suspect she has cleverly used her “feelings” for Pete as a handy stepladder to ensure her return. She’s had time on the outside and its being stated elsewhere that thanks to watching footage of herself she had time to learn “how to be a successful Nikki”. She now knows what the public like and what the public want and the punters love to see…well, love.

Its clever stuff, the housemates have been out of the loop so long they’ll believe anything you tell ‘em. So with this “romantic fiction” Nikki has ensured at very the least she’ll nab herself a second place. Don’t get me wrong I like Nikki but I suspect she has been coached to bag herself the winner. He may not be the footballer she has always dreamed of owning but the odds are on that he will be 100k richer by next Friday and that’s no small potatoes.

As for Pete he is losing favour with me. Courtesy of an absence of backbone demonstrated throughout the week. He didn’t make any effort to stand Glyn’s corner when he was trying to defend Grace and asked for his help. And when Nikki finally entered the house, he looked mildly pleased but not overly enthused about the whole situation. I suspect in this instance he should be careful what he has asked for.

And on a final note if Nikki was so “in love” with Pete then why didn’t she run straight to him when she went back into the house. From where I was watching she jumped at Richard first. Hmmm…

Not long to go now folks, stay tuned.